


Charade

by noa748



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/M, Gen, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-13
Updated: 2015-04-13
Packaged: 2018-03-22 18:24:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3738784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noa748/pseuds/noa748
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the good days, I pretend we're all actors in a play.  I am the genius tactician, Chrom's right-hand woman, destined to lead our soldiers to victory.  There is a script we follow and I never forget my lines.</p>
<p>I never forget my lines, but sometimes the others change theirs.  Then I remember that they aren't actors, and this isn't a fictional story anymore.  Still, my role remains the same.  I'm just a twenty-two year-old waitress with a love for video games and no battle experience whatsover--but I am the tactician of this army.</p>
<p>Here's hoping I can find a way home before I get everyone killed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Charade

“All right guys, I’m heading out. Need anything in town?”

I paused by the kitchen counter, popping on a pair of sunglasses and glancing over at my roommates.

“Oh—could you grab some Advil? I’ve got a killer headache,” Ryan piped up.

“Maybe you should stop staring at that computer all day long,” Sarah quipped, brushing blonde bangs out of her face. 

“So sue me, I got a new game,” he shot back, rolling his eyes. “Brit understands.”

“That I do,” I replied with a snort. “Sarah, you’ve got your manicures, let us have our video games.”

“At least manicures have a practical use!” the blonde said.

A loud laugh came from the living room—Matt had paused his TV show to eavesdrop. “What the hell? _What_ practical use? Clawing men’s eyes out when they piss you off?”

“I was going to say no, but that’s actually starting to sound pretty appealing right now,” Sarah said, examining her nails with a huff.

_“Anyway,”_ I cut in, knowing this bickering could go on for a while, “I’ll grab the Advil. Anything else?”

“I think we’re good,” Ryan said with a chuckle. “See you in a bit.”

Matt and Sarah called a goodbye as well, and I exited the house, walking down the front steps toward my car. It was a gorgeous spring day; I could hear the birds chirping, and the sky was a pristine blue without a cloud in sight. 

It was strange. My roommates and I were from all walks of life, but we meshed incredibly well with each other. The most fighting we did was bickering matches, but it was all in good humor. We had moved into this house last summer out of a mutual love for the mountains; my first year living away from home was almost finished.

Now that my life had stabilized and I had settled in here, there were so many things I wanted to do this summer that I had missed last year. I paused next to my car, eyeing the untended garden in front of the house with a smile. Colorful flowers everywhere, a house smelling like nature… ah, that would be nice.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to find time to tend a garden between a busy work schedule and all of my planned hiking trips, but I would find a way! Summer always turned me into some kind of powerhouse—probably because in the winter time, I was the laziest human being on the planet. Part of me wondered if I’d be a really productive person all the time if I just lived in a warmer climate. My body wasn’t wired for New England weather, apparently. I must’ve been a desert dweller in a past life or something, heh.

I reached into my purse, fumbling for my car keys, when suddenly I paused. A chill ran through me.

_At last… so this is where you’ve been hiding._

What?

A voice… a voice in my head?

The world spun. I threw a hand out, leaning on my car for support. Everything started to grow fuzzy and there was a loud ringing in my ears.

_Come… your destiny awaits you. Ahahaha…_

Someone was behind me. The ringing was intensifying, and I felt my limbs growing weak. With every last ounce of my strength I tried to turn around, to see who was addressing me.

The world faded to black before I could see a thing.

\---- 

_A blue haired swordsman with a shining blade. An opponent shrouded in darkness. The final, desperate conflict._

_Victory. The swordsman’s smile—a surge of love and camaraderie. His hand on my shoulder, relieved laughter._

_Laughter overshadowed by something sinister. Body moving against my will. The smile wiped from his face. My hands stained red._

_“Brittany… you have to escape from this place. Don’t blame yourself… it’s—it’s not… your fault…”_

_Screaming. Screaming his name, screaming with anguish, but my body was laughing, laughing…_

\---- 

“Chrom… what should we do?”

“I—I don’t know.”

“Well, we have to do _something!”_

"What exactly do you suggest?"

Soft voices pulled me from the depths of sleep, and the constricted feeling in my chest abruptly released. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes and I had to squeeze them tighter shut for a moment until I had control of myself.

“Oh…!” The girl had noticed the movement. I realized there was no sense in lying still any longer.

My eyes opened.

Hovering over me were two people—a young blond girl with messy pigtails, and a blue haired man—

_The man from the dream._

“Hello there,” the man said with a smile.

That dream—no, wait… wasn’t that just a scene from—but it had felt so _real,_ and this _guy,_ he looked so much like—

“This isn’t really the place to be taking a nap, you know,” he continued, smiling kindly. Then he held out a hand. Feeling numb with disbelief, I reached out and took it. He was warm.

He pulled me to my feet, only letting go of my hand when I steadied myself.

“You all right?” he asked.

“Y-yeah… thanks, Chrom.”

The main raised his eyebrows a bit, and I knew I had made a mistake. My heart pounded. But that couldn’t be. Was he actually…?

“Ah, then you know who I am?”

I took in his face, the noble features, the deep blue eyes, the mark on his bare arm. It wasn’t possible, but he had just confirmed it.

“N-no, it’s just…” I fumbled for an answer. “I heard you two talking before I opened my eyes… I just sort of blurted it out.”

A short huff called my attention to the tall, armored man standing on the sidelines. He was giving me such a sharp glare, it made me wonder if he was willing me to burst into flames.

Chrom chuckled. “At ease, Frederick. It’s all right.” He turned back to me. “Tell me, what’s your name? What brings you here?”

For a moment my mind was a complete blank. This whole thing was so sudden and unexpected that I had no idea how to react. Why was I here? What was the last thing I remembered? 

This had to still be a dream. The battle from that first dream—hadn’t that been the opening scene from Fire Emblem: Awakening? I had just bought that game last week, and had been playing it quite a bit recently; it must’ve been still on my mind when I went to sleep last night.

And this… Chrom, Lissa and Frederick? This was no coincidence. This whole scene… it was like I was the Avatar.

I didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t like telling the truth would get me anywhere—just some weird looks. And if this was still a dream, I didn’t want to spend it trying to explain that this was a video game.

Regardless of what this was, it _felt_ pretty real… and I felt very real apprehension at telling the truth. So I did the only other thing I could think of—I played my part.

“M-my name is… ah…” I pressed a hand to my forehead, furrowing my brow. I already felt very dazed and my thoughts were a jumbled mess, so there wasn’t much in my expression that I had to fake.

Chrom frowned. “You don’t know your own name?”

I swallowed thickly. “I, um… it’s just… where exactly are we?”

“Hey, I’ve heard of this!” Lissa piped up. “It’s called amnesia!”

“It’s called a load of pegasus dung,” Frederick said, continuing to glare at me. “You expect us to believe such a convenient excuse?”

Okay. I had already decided that I wasn’t too fond of this dream-Frederick. I knew he was just saying his lines, but having that suspicious, sharp-eyed look actually turned on _me_ was not pleasant.

“It’s the truth,” I insisted. “I don’t know how I ended up here, or why I’m here—really!”

All right, it was half-true—the last part, anyway. But it wasn’t like I had some sort of nefarious plot. I just wanted to get through this weird dream! Weren’t things supposed to be easy in dreams? I thought you could gain control of the dream once you realized you were dreaming.

For a moment I willed Frederick to be less of a jerk, to actually drop his guard for half a second. He did not become any less scary. Part of me wondered if this dream was going to end with him killing me or something—at least then I’d wake up.

Chrom came to my rescue. “What if it _is_ true, Frederick? We can’t just leave her here, alone and confused. What kind of Shepherds would we be then?”

“All the same, milord, I must emphasize caution,” Frederick replied with a sigh. “’Twould not do to let a wolf into our flock.”

“Right then—we’ll take her back to town and sort this out there,” the prince said.

Oh, right. They were going to take me with them—hold on, just how long was this going to take? 

“Wait, I’m going with you? But I—”

“Peace, friend; I promise we’ll hear all you have to say back in town,” Chrom cut in, his calm tone putting me more at ease. “Now come.”

His words left no room for argument. I received no support from the glowering knight, but Lissa was giving me an encouraging smile. I let out a sigh and nodded, following as Chrom began to lead the way.

This couldn’t be all bad. Hell, I had written enough fanfiction about stuff like this happening; couldn’t hurt to see it firsthand in a dream, anyway. Maybe this was my brain coming up with new material. This was a lot more fun than thinking up lines for each character and questioning if they sounded good or not, anyway.

I never had cool dreams, so I figured I would milk the experience. How many characters would I get to meet before I woke up? I hadn’t made it super far in the game, but I could think of a few I wouldn’t mind having a conversation with.

We walked in relative silence for a minute or two; with Chrom up front and Frederick taking up the rear, I found myself walking next to Lissa, who was humming a cheerful tune to herself. It was a gorgeous, balmy day—almost too warm for the cloak I was wearing.

Hold on, _cloak?_ I didn’t _own_ a cloak. That just sounded too medieval.

Frowning, I looked down at my attire. Ah… not so surprising, actually. I was wearing the avatar character’s clothes. And that heavy object strapped to my waist… a sword?! I had to resist the urge to draw it out and examine it. Frederick would probably tackle me if I did.

Something else heavy was in an inside breast pocket of my cloak, too. It was square, so I assumed it had to be a tome. Just like the avatar. Man, I just wanted to be alone for five seconds so I could figure out how to use magic. How cool would that be?

Scratch that, I just wanted to be alone _period._ It was too hard to think when a certain set of prying eyes was boring into my back. It felt like I had other possessions on me and I was really curious to see what they were; not only that, I hadn’t had any time to figure out what exactly I had been doing before all this. 

Man, I didn’t want to feel stressed out right now. Wasn’t another conversation supposed to happen here? We had been walking for a few minutes now; maybe I needed to talk some more to progress the plot or something.

My mouth was dry. Dammit, it was a dream, so why was I nervous? It was either because Frederick was intimidating or because Chrom was super hot. Actually, they were _both_ super hot. Jesus. Get rid of them both, I only wanted to talk to Lissa.

“Don’t worry.” Speak of the devil. Lissa was smiling at me. “I mean, as long as you don’t turn out to be an enemy of Ylisse or something, we’ll probably just let you go after this.”

The gears were turning in my head. The avatar character had been completely clueless, that was right. So I had to question everything… which was fine, because even if I knew what she was talking about, there were probably going to be plenty of things I was ignorant to. Like how to do basically anything without modern technology.

“So… that’s where we are? Ylisse?” The words came, and they sounded right.

“You’ve never heard of the halidom?” Frederick, naturally, had to get a word in. I turned to see him giving me the same skeptical look he’d been giving me from the start. “Ha! Someone pay this actor—she plays quite the fool. The furrowed brow is especially convincing…”

For a moment I contemplated flipping the bird at him. Then I realized he probably wouldn’t even understand the gesture. Or maybe, since this was my dream, he would and it would be _worth_ it…

“Frederick, please.” Once again Chrom came to the rescue. He looked over at me. “Our land is known as the Halidom of Ylisse. Our ruler, Emmeryn, is called the exalt.”

I nodded to show I was listening carefully. Emmeryn… that was right. She had actually been in the chapter I had most recently played. There had been some kind of assassination attempt, and Chrom and the others had to stop it. I had stopped there because I had accidentally let Gaius get killed before I could recruit him; I just hadn’t gotten around to replaying the map yet.

“I suppose proper introductions are in order,” Chrom continued. “My name is Chrom—but then, you already knew that. The delicate one here is my little sister, Lissa.”

“Hey! I am _not_ delicate!” Lissa piped up with a huff, and then turned to me. “Ignore my brother… he can be a bit thick sometimes.” She perked up a bit, calling forth the familiar smile. “But you’re lucky the Shepherds found you. Brigands would’ve been a rude awakening!”

“So you’re… the Shepherds? You look after sheep?” I asked, my brow furrowed. “Fully armed?”

“Heh, it’s a dangerous job,” the prince replied. “Just ask Frederick the Wary here.”

“A title I shall wear with pride,” Frederick said. “Gods forbid one of us keeps an appropriate level of caution.”

Aaaand that look again. Directed at me. Appropriate level of caution? More like complete overkill. But I guess the fact that _I_ was armed didn’t make me look so great.

“I have every wish to trust you, stranger, but my station mandates otherwise,” the knight continued, as if he’d sensed the nature of my thoughts.

“I see,” I said, biting my lip nervously. “I… I guess I understand. It’s not like you know anything about me yet.”

I paused for a moment to think; was this the right moment? The avatar was supposed to remember their name almost right off the bat, weren’t they? Well, screw it, now was as good a time as any.

“Well, here’s something,” I said, pretending to perk up. “I think… I’m pretty sure my name’s Brittany. That much has come back to me.”

“Brittany?” Chrom blinked, surprised. “Is that foreign? …Ah, well. We can discuss it later. Once we get back to town—“

“Chrom, look!” Lissa shouted, pointing upwards.

We all turned to see a large plume of black smoke rising up into the sky. The direction of the wind changed, and I could smell it on the breeze. 

Chrom tensed. “That’s the direction of the town! Those damn brigands, no doubt… Frederick, Lissa, quickly!”

“What about her, milord?” Frederick asked, gesturing to me.

He shook his head. “Unless she’s on fire as well, it can wait!”

“Aptly put, milord,” the knight replied.

With that, the three of them promptly forgot all about me and ran off in the direction of that plume of smoke. They vanished through the trees and I stood behind, listening to the crashing of their feet through the undergrowth.

Abandoned. Okay.

My mouth was dry again. I swallowed, looking around. What now? I could just, like… turn around and _leave._ Just walk in the opposite direction while the others went and did their thing.

But then what? What if I still didn’t wake up? Chrom and Lissa had mentioned brigands… I had weapons but no idea how to use them. Could I even defend myself?

I reached down, finally drawing out the sword on my belt. It came free of its sheath with a quiet hiss. This thing definitely wasn’t a prop; when I ran a hand lightly along the blade, I discovered that it was in fact very sharp and lethal.

After a moment I sheathed it again. I didn’t know a damn thing about using swords, and I had a feeling I’d just find a way to stab myself with it. Instead I now pulled the tome out of my pocket and flipped through it absentmindedly for a minute.

Half the thing was written in a strange language that reminded me a bit of the Elvish tongue from The Lord of the Rings. I couldn’t even begin to comprehend it. But the book felt oddly familiar in my hands, almost nostalgic—and when I tried to figure out why, it felt like I was groping around in the wrong parts of my brain. The sensation was uncomfortable.

I moved my lips, murmuring a particular line from the book that stood out to me; it was bolded and separate from the rest of the text.

A sudden flash of light forced my eyes away from the text. My mouth dropped open when I saw a small ball of electricity float in the air two feet away from me, before fizzling out entirely.

 

Did I just… did I just do magic?

My mind worked furiously. Do that same thing again, and give it some forward momentum… it could be a decent weapon, if only to stun people. It was better than flailing a sword around blindly.

I closed the book, taking a glance over my shoulder. I could walk away…

Now I looked up at the plume of smoke. I knew what the avatar was supposed to do here, though. Following her path had worked out okay so far. But what exactly was I going to find in town?

Another uneasy glance behind me, and then eyes forward again. It felt wrong to leave Chrom and the others… but I was afraid that if I just stood here, things would stop going the way they were supposed to and maybe Frederick would convince Chrom not to return for me.

That thought pushed my feet into motion. I took off in the direction of the town at a run, clutching the tome tightly to my chest.

\---- 

“Brittany?! Why did you follow us?”

Chrom paused just long enough to look at me, before swinging around and cutting down an attacking brigand. Lissa was hanging back, her staff glowing, and Frederick was on his horse, forming a wall between most of the fighting and the two royals. Anyone that came within range of his lance was cut down in an instant. The ground was stained red with blood.

I had come here to play my part and help like I was supposed to, but the moment I saw the scene before me, everything I wanted to say flew out the window. Chrom was looking expectantly at me and Falchion was in his hands, dripping red, a corpse at his feet.

The smell of blood and smoke and sweat hit me and for a second I just couldn’t process it. They were killing people. This was… this was _war._ This dream wasn’t fun anymore. This dream was…

This dream…

Still a dream.

_STILL A DREAM!_

Bile rose up in the back of my throat and I swallowed it down again, taking a deep breath.

“I’d like to help, if you’d have me.”

My voice sounded mechanical to my ears, but it must’ve come off cool and collected to Chrom, because his eyes softened the tiniest bit and he nodded.

“Strength in numbers—all right. Is that a tome? You can use magic?”

“Um… yes? I think?”

He grimaced. “You think? Er… hang back with Lissa. Try to avoid casting anything in my direction.”

“R-right.” I tried to sound reassuring, but when Chrom went back to fighting, he was very clearly trying to stay out of my way.

“This is great!” Lissa declared, standing beside me. “If you cover me, I can get twice as much healing done!”

“I’ll do my best,” I told her, taking another breath and letting it out slowly. Then I looked around at the chaos of battle before opening my tome and flipping through it, trying to figure out which page I had been on before.

The rest of the brigands were across the town bridge, where it looked like their leader was holding someone hostage. Frederick was battling on the bridge to prevent the rest of them from rushing us. Chrom, on the other hand, was getting drawn too far away from Lissa. He was was busy fending off an axe wielder, but two mages were approaching… if I looked at this from a game perspective, that was a really bad combination.

My eyes narrowed. Frederick saw what was going on but he couldn’t break away. Lissa didn’t have any weapons, and if I ran in to assist, there’s no way I’d be of any help. If I could just—!

Finding that incantation from before, I muttered it under my breath and concentrated hard, holding a hand out towards one of the brigand’s horses. The ball of electricity that I conjured up shot out with a _crack,_ hitting the horse dead in the shoulder; it reared up in the middle of the commotion, dropping its rider.

_Bingo._ I hurriedly cast the same spell again, hitting the horse once more to knock it on to its back, where it flailed on the ground and began kicking all of the fighters around it.

Frederick’s opponents were distracted. The knight whipped his own horse around and made a beeline for Chrom, descending on the two approaching mages like an angel of death. They fell before they could even get close.

Chrom killed the axe wielder he had been fighting, and Lissa ran over to heal up a minor injury he had received. I stayed close to her, feeling a bit weak.

Magic was… _taxing._ I had only cast a few spells and I felt kind of tired already. 

“Still doing all right?” Chrom asked me when we had a second to regroup.

“Ah—yeah, for the most part,” I replied, trying to push away the feeling of weariness.

“I saw what you did just then—that was clever,” he remarked. 

“About that,” I spoke up, “I… I can see things like that, in the midst of battle.”

Part of me figured it was because I was supposed to be the avatar, but it was true, in a way. Hanging back with Lissa, I could survey what was going on. After a point I got used to the fear and adrenaline and things sort of… slowed down. Then it was just the same sort of logic I’d use commanding units in the game.

Except there were extra details I could take advantage of. In the game Chrom would’ve been toast. But here, there was the variable of the one man on the horse, which had probably been stolen and was not a trained war mount.

“See things?” Chrom questioned, frowning.

I gestured vaguely. “The flow of battle. What weapons the enemy is using, the sort of fighters we’re dealing with… stuff like that.”

The prince raised his eyebrows. “You’re saying you can size up the enemy at a glance?”

His words nearly caused me to grimace—he was giving me too much credit. But this was a dream, so I might as well continue to fit the role.

“I think so,” I told him.

“A valuable skill to have,” he commented, and then turned his eyes towards the bridge, where the brigands were beginning to group as well.

“I’ll ask for your counsel on this, then. We need to prevent any more townspeople from being killed—how do we save that hostage?”

My heart was pounding in my ears. Yeah, no pressure at all. The wrong words could just get someone killed and all.

Wasn’t that a tactician’s _job,_ though? To take the entire army’s lives in their hands? Ugh, of all the positions to get stuck in…

But it was true, that woman needed to be saved. And with the way things were going… Frederick could tank his way over there without a problem, but she’d be slaughtered long before he got to her. And Chrom could hold his own pretty well, but if he was outnumbered he’d go down quick.

“If we cross the bridge, he will kill her,” Chrom elaborated. “We can’t sacrifice an innocent, but we also can’t abandon the town for the sake of one woman.” 

“I can use long-ranged attacks,” I said slowly. “If… if I could get a good vantage point, all it would take is one hit to take his attention off the hostage. But I’ll have to be out of sight… maybe if you could keep the brigands on the bridge busy, I could cross through the river while they’re distracted.” Turning my head slightly, I nodded toward a shallower section of river. If I hid at the same time Chrom and Frederick attacked, they might not notice my absence from the main group.

The prince’s lips tugged down in a frown, and he stared hard at me. “...That could work, but it sounds risky—are you sure?”

“It’s the best option we’ve got,” I replied, forcing my voice to remain steady. “Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.”

_Be brave. None of this is real… if you die you’ll just wake up._

Frederick’s gaze was intense but unreadable. Lissa chewed on her lower lip, wringing her hands nervously.

Finally Chrom nodded. “All right. Lissa, stay here; Frederick, with me.”

“Yes, milord.”

With that, the prince charged with his knight on his heels. The brigands had just finished regrouping, and they were surprised at the sudden assault. Lissa reached out to squeeze my shoulder, uttering a quiet “good luck” before I ducked behind the nearest building.

All right. I could do this. I could do this.

I made my way to the river, using the buildings as cover until I reached the gravelly shore. There were just enough rocks here to use as stepping stones. I swallowed thickly, trying to pretend this was just a river crossing on one of the hiking trails back home. Just a hike—don’t think about it. Don’t think about what’s on the other side.

I ran and jumped on to the first rock, my foot very nearly slipping on the wet surface. Before I could touch down for long and lose my balance, I stretched out my other leg and caught the next stone; in this way I hopped across the river in almost no time at all.

Then I turned and something heavy connected with my shoulder, forcing me to stumble backwards, my eyes going wide. That was when I saw the stray archer—the only one that had seen me coming.

Things slowed down. I saw Chrom and Frederick on the bridge, fighting their way through. The archer reaching up to his quiver. Lissa on the other side of the river, frozen, staring wide-eyed in my direction.

The leader of the brigands, raising his axe. His hostage struggling feebly, glistening tears streaming down her cheeks.

Electricity sparked in the palm of my hand as my lips moved of their own accord. My voice sounded distant, numb. I just saw the shine of that axe, understood what it meant.

The spell shot out. The lead brigand was struck; he let out a cry and dropped the hostage, who began to scramble away on her hands and knees.

_There’s an arrow in my shoulder,_ I realized absently. It was then that the pain hit me in a heavy wave. My breath came in thick gasps and I dropped the tome I had been holding, reaching up to gingerly touch the wound.

Another wave of agony left me reeling. God. Oh, _god._ This…this couldn’t be—

The archer had nocked another arrow. His eyes met mine, and his face twisted in a cruel sneer, and I saw his intent. Last time he had missed his mark. This time he wouldn’t.

Just a dream. Just—

No. So much pain. All of my senses were heightened with my heart pumping so hard, and everything was clear and crisp. Dreams didn’t have this much detail. I should’ve woken up by now, but I hadn’t. The pain just kept rolling in, merciless. That arrow was really there.

It didn’t matter anymore how impossible, how unrealistic this whole thing was. It didn’t matter because this felt _real,_ this was a real battlefield and these were real people and that was real blood staining the ground. That meant I wasn’t just going to wake up. It meant…

Oh.

It meant I was going to die.

In that moment I knew there was no way I could hope to dodge. The moment I twitched, he’d release the arrow and that would be it. I wondered what part of me he was aiming for. My head? My heart? What would it feel like? Would I feel anything?

What had I ever done to deserve this?

The archer let out a choked cry and his arrow flew past me, several feet off the mark, burying itself in a tree. It took a few seconds for my wide eyes to register the spear protruding from the man’s stomach.

I turned and locked eyes with Frederick, who was galloping towards me from the bridge, weaponless. He reached down as he rode and retrieved his spear, yanking it roughly from the body of the archer that had very nearly killed me.

Then he turned, coming to a stop directly before me. The large form of knight and horse blocked my view of the remaining brigands.

“Stay behind me,” he ordered.

The command turned out to be pointless, because I could scarcely move as it was. Dizzy from the pain, I dropped to my knees. Since I couldn’t bear to touch the protruding arrow, I grabbed my fallen tome instead, squeezing it until my knuckles turned white.

Maybe I would die, I thought as the battle raged on. I had never felt so much pain in my entire life. Maybe I would die after all. Alone and scared and wearing clothes that weren’t even mine, in a place that shouldn’t exist.

“Brittany!”

I looked up, dazed. Ahead of me, I saw the figures of Frederick and Chrom finishing up the battle. There were no brigands left to fight. Lissa knelt next to me, though I couldn’t recall seeing her approach. Everything had grown so hazy.

“Hey! Hang in there!” she said urgently, raising her staff.

“Milady. Allow me.”

Frederick had dismounted and run over, eyes grave. Now he looked at me, pulling a cloth out of his pocket and balling it up before handing it to me.

“Bite down on this,” he instructed.

I obeyed without even thinking. The cloth was rough against my tongue.

He didn’t give any warning—he simply grabbed my shoulder with one hand and the shaft of the arrow in the other. Then he ripped the arrow out.

My scream was muffled by the cloth and I bit down even harder as a reflex, so hard that it made my jaw ache. The exquisite pain only lasted for a few seconds before it was replaced with a soothing warmth, and I saw Lissa’s staff glowing as she muttered incantations under her breath.

Agonized gasping turned into sighs of relief. I pulled the cloth from my mouth so I could breathe more easily, hanging my head. Now my shoulder just throbbed lightly, a vast improvement over what I had been feeling moments ago. I reached up to clutch at it; the wound had barely even had time to bleed before being closed up. Now it was a puckered, tender scar.

“Thank you,” I breathed, looking up at Lissa—and then reluctantly over to Frederick as well. He was the other reason I was still here.

“Careless,” Frederick remarked with a weary sigh. “…But difficulties aside, the plan was a success.”

“Brittany! You all right?” 

That was Chrom calling. The prince ran up at last, sword sheathed and expression full of concern.

“Y…yeah,” I managed. “Close call, but I’m okay.”

I couldn’t stop glancing at the bloody arrow in Frederick’s hand. Okay? That was a lie. I was anything but okay right now.

“I’m glad,” Chrom said, smiling with relief. “The hostage escaped with her life because you risked yours. You have my thanks.”

“Yeah, that was some quick thinking back there,” Lissa added. “Tomes and tactics… you know, I’m really glad you followed us in the end!”

“I don’t suppose you could tell us where you _learned_ these skills…?” Frederick prodded, watching me.

His words caused me to pause for a moment. Where I learned them? I didn’t learn jack shit. I was just skidding by based on some ridiculous act I had initially thought I had to follow. I wasn’t _capable._

But then it occurred to me that I wasn’t utterly helpless, because my strategy had worked in the end. Where had I learned tactics? Well, Fire Emblem, to be honest. Fire Emblem and problem solving games and books and school and honest research, because I had learned a lot writing in this kind of genre. I had come from a world where infinite knowledge had been at my fingertips; now I was beginning to realize what an asset my education was. Things weren’t the same here. Not by a long shot.

“I’m sorry,” I said, realizing that Frederick was waiting for a response. “It’s just… it hasn’t all come back. I wish I could tell you more.”

I had already started down the path of the amnesiac. Now I was too much of a coward to turn away from it. How could I explain the truth to them? Would they even believe me? Now that reality had set in, I was even more terrified of being parted from them. Chrom and his friends were the only familiar faces I knew here. How could I possibly survive by myself in a foreign world?

Chrom shook his head. “You fought to save Ylissean lives. My heart says that’s enough.”

“And your mind, milord?” Frederick’s eyes narrowed. “Will you not heed its counsel as well?”

“Frederick, the Shepherds could use someone with Brittany’s talents,” the prince remarked. “We’ve brigands and unruly neighbors, all looking to bloody our soil. Would you really have us lose such an able tactician? Besides, I believe her story, odd as it might be.”

I felt a rush of guilt. I was a liar and he was giving me too much credit. Frederick was right. He was right, but—but I couldn’t fight. I would die if I was cast out. I didn’t deserve the kindness Chrom was offering me, but at the same time… what had I done to deserve _dying?_

“So, how about it?” Chrom was looking at me, that smile back on his face again. It was hard not to like him. “Will you join us, Brittany?”

The offer was a godsend and a curse and it left me stunned for a moment. I could stay with them, but I would have to fight. There would be repeats of this day. But was it any better, being alone? No… these characters—these _people_ —were all I had left. More than anything, I wanted to stay with them.

Besides, I was wearing the tactician’s clothes, and I had played the part pretty well until now. Why not finish what I had started?


End file.
